Planning PhD

Queen's University Belfast

The discipline of Planning is located in the School of Natural and Built Environment. In recent years the performance of the discipline has been quite exceptional in a range of surveys, e.g. National Student Survey, Times Higher Education Survey and Guardian League Table. Given this, Planning at Queen’s is very highly ranked within the UK's Russell Group Universities. Our research programme is based on the concept of spatial planning and whilst our empirical work is partly grounded in the region, it is built on strong international, interdisciplinary and theoretical references. Our particular strength is the staff team who have built a track record in scholarly and applied research and a wide-ranging portfolio of publications, research grants and Doctoral studentships. Planning academics have built an international reputation and attracted a stream of major research funding linked to our main areas. We value the connection between our research and teaching programmes and the application of our empirical work in a learning environment, and continues to innovate and develop teaching programmes to reflect a rapidly changing market place, problem and policy context and changes in professional standards.Queen's is ranked 2nd in the UK for Planning (Guardian University Guide 2020). You’ll join a strong postgraduate group whose research strengths centre on two objective areas: interpreting the spatial planning implications of ethnic territoriality and community cohesion, connecting our analysis of contested places within the UK with international scholarship; and developing critical insights into the sustainable creation of place and the role of participatory governance in regulating the shaping of social and environmental space.